


a dreaming wolf

by Anonymous



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, F/M, Independent North, inspired by Sleeping Beauty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 12:31:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13166973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Bran Stark is gifted with the greensight, but cursed to one day become trapped in his visions, wasting away until he finds his true love.





	a dreaming wolf

**Author's Note:**

> I really love parallels between ASOIAF and fairy tales, and Bran as Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorites. This is very AU, but I hope you enjoy!

            Once upon a time, in a snowy kingdom known simply as the North, there lived a good and just King named Eddard and a wise and fair Queen named Catelyn. They had three children, named Robb, Sansa, and Arya, and were overjoyed when they learned that they were to have another son. They named him Brandon, and per tradition, invited all the Great Houses in the North to come to celebrate his birth. The Old Gods still held power in the North, and each time a royal child was born, the great lords and ladies of the realm came to ask the Old Gods for blessings to bestow on the baby.

            So King Eddard and Queen Catelyn threw a huge feast to be held at their castle of Winterfell, and the head of each house came to grant a blessing to the newborn prince. First came Lady Mormont of Bear Island, who blessed Brandon with strength and skill at climbing. Then came the laughing Lord Umber, who blessed Brandon with kindness and friendliness. Lord Manderly did not keep to the Old Gods, but nonetheless beseeched them to make Brandon a wise and just ruler in his adulthood. Lord Karstark blessed him with curiosity, which worried the Queen. She knew too well from her daughter Arya how much trouble curiosity could cause. After each gift, the King and Queen thanked the giver and looked lovingly upon their son.

            As the final Lord, Lord Reed of Greywater Watch, approached the head table, the candles in the Great Hall blew out all at once, and a chill swept through Winterfell. A hush fell over the gathered lords and ladies as the doors to the hall flew open and Lord Roose Bolton entered, accompanied by his bastard son Ramsay.

            “Apologies if I interrupted your feast, Your Grace,” said the old Leech Lord, bowing mockingly. “I was certain I’d have been invited! Here I see Umber and Karstark and even Reed, but no mention of your loyal vassal, House Bolton.”

            The King and Queen shifted uncomfortably. In truth, they had not invited Lord Bolton because he frightened them. He was cold and calculating, and there had been rumors of him seeking to overthrow the King and Queen. But now that he was here, they could not turn him away.

            “Never fear, though,” continued the Leech Lord. “All I want is to give a gift to Prince Brandon. As a Lord of the North, I have that right, do I not?”

            “You do,” acknowledged King Eddard reluctantly.

            Lord Bolton approached the cradle where Prince Brandon lay. While Brandon had looked curiously at his other visitors, he started to cry when Lord Bolton approached, tears that did not subside when the lord reached a long, pale finger and stroked his cheek.

            “In the name of the Old Gods of the North, I would bless Prince Brandon with the gift of prophecy,” he began. A murmur rose among the gathered lords and ladies. The gift of prophecy was not unheard of, and it had once been that every Northern prince had been blessed with the greensight. But that practice had fallen out of favor over the years, and Brandon would be the first to have the gift in many generations. King Eddard rose to thank the lord, surprised at how benign the gift was, but Lord Bolton bade him stop by raising a bony finger.

            “I am not finished. He will get visions, of what has happened and what is yet to come. These visions will get stronger and stronger until he cannot tell past from present from future. On his sixteenth nameday, Prince Brandon will fall from a tower and become unconscious, trapped in his visions until he wastes away. That is my gift to the young prince!” With that, the Lord Bolton and his son vanished in a cloud of black smoke, leaving the King and Queen staring at the empty space where they had once stood.

            The gathered lords and ladies began to speak, chattering rapidly about the fate to befall Prince Brandon. Even King Eddard could not gain their silence, until Lord Howland Reed stepped forward. Lord Reed was a short man, not intimidating in the slightest, but the Reeds were known throughout the North for their strong connection to the Old Gods. If anyone could undo the curse, it would be him.

            “If the Old Gods have granted Lord Bolton’s wish, I cannot change that. None can go against what the Old Gods have decreed,” he began. “But. I can lessen the effects of his curse. Prince Brandon will still have the gift of the greensight, and he will become trapped in his visions upon his fall. But true love’s kiss will be enough to wake him, should it come before these visions overtake him fully. In the name of the Old Gods of the North, this I bless Prince Brandon with.”

            King Eddard thanked his old friend, but then spoke, fear for his son overtaking him. “I would sooner have Brandon remain free from the visions - the Old Gods alone know what toll it would take on his mind. Is there naught we can do for him? If I could, I would have every tower in Winterfell torn down, so he could never fall!” But that was a near impossible task for the ancient castle.

            Lord Reed sighed. “Prophecy is unchanging, my King. One often meets his destiny on the very road he takes to avoid it. But if it would make you feel better, when Bran is older, you might send him to Greywater Watch. There are no towers there, and there he might remain until he is a man grown. I shall make sure he has the best teachers on the use of greensight.”

            “Very well,” agreed King Eddard. The rest of the feast was a somber affair, and the King and Queen excused themselves early to put their son to bed and pray that, despite Lord Reed’s warning, Roose Bolton’s prophecy would never come to pass.


End file.
